Cray

Cray is an American high-performance computing brand whose name has been associated with some of the world’s most influential supercomputers. The business originated in 1972 when computer architect Seymour Cray founded Cray Research after leaving Control Data Corporation. Cray retained a research and engineering base in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, while establishing its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis. Its first major product, the Cray-1, introduced an exceptionally fast vector-processing architecture and quickly established the company as the premier supplier of scientific supercomputers. The first Cray-1 system was sold for approximately $8.8 million, making the machine both a technological milestone and a symbol of the cost and prestige associated with early supercomputing. Seymour Cray later pursued the Cray-2 through independent research arrangements, while Cray Research developed successive systems including the X-MP, Y-MP, C90, T90, J90, and SV1. These machines extended the original vector-computing concept through additional processors, faster clocks, and wider vector pipelines. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company faced growing competition from massively parallel systems and lower-cost minisupercomputers. Cray eventually adopted parallel processing through systems such as the Digital Equipment Corporation Alpha-based T3D and T3E, helping it remain a major participant in high-performance computing as the industry moved beyond large shared-memory vector machines. Cray also expanded through acquisitions and product experiments. It acquired Supertek and marketed systems derived from Supertek’s CMOS implementation of the X-MP architecture. In 1991 it acquired assets of Floating Point Systems and entered the technical-server market with systems that later included the CS6400. These initiatives were less successful than the company’s flagship supercomputing business. Seymour Cray’s separate Cray Computer Corporation pursued the Cray-3, an ambitious system using gallium arsenide technology, but weak commercial prospects and the end of the Cold War contributed to the company’s bankruptcy in 1995. Cray Research was acquired by Silicon Graphics in 1996 for approximately $740 million. Under SGI, the Cray SV1 was introduced, while broader plans to unify Cray and SGI server architectures were not fully realized. In 2000, SGI sold the Cray business to Tera Computer Company, which adopted the Cray name and formed the modern Cray Inc. The post-Tera company pursued vector, massively parallel, multithreaded, FPGA-accelerated, and commodity-processor systems. Products included the X1 and X1E, XD1, XT3, XT4, XT5, XMT, XE6, and later generations built around increasingly scalable interconnects and processors. A major revitalization came from the Red Storm system developed for Sandia National Laboratories. Its SeaStar interconnect and massively parallel design became the basis for the XT product family. Cray systems subsequently powered major national-laboratory installations, including Jaguar at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which became the first system to sustain more than one petaflop on a 64-bit scientific application and briefly ranked as the world’s fastest supercomputer. Cray worked with processor and accelerator suppliers including AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, and others as the market moved toward heterogeneous computing. Its later systems combined CPUs, GPUs, high-speed interconnects, software environments, storage, and analytics capabilities. In 2019, Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Cray for approximately $1.3 billion. Cray now operates as an HPE subsidiary and contributes supercomputing hardware, software, engineering, and services to HPE’s high-performance computing and artificial intelligence portfolio. As of June 2025, systems carrying the Cray name occupied the top three positions in the TOP500 ranking, reflecting the continuing importance of the brand in national-scale computing.

Seymour Cray entered the computing industry in 1950 at Engineering Research Associates, where he worked on the ERA 1103. After ERA became part of UNIVAC, Cray joined Control Data Corporation and helped design landmark systems including the CDC 6600 and CDC 7600. When CDC financial constraints placed the CDC 8600 project on hold, Cray left in 1972 and founded Cray Research. Cray Research separated its business headquarters from its engineering operation in a pattern that preserved advanced development work in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The Cray-1 established the company’s reputation by delivering substantially higher performance than competing computers through vector processing and unusually sophisticated cooling and packaging. Cray Research continued with the Cray-2, although the company’s X-MP, developed by another engineering team, became the more commercially successful successor. Cray eventually left the chief executive role and worked as an independent contractor. The company’s vector line expanded through the Y-MP, C90, T90, J90, and SV1. At the same time, changing economics and advances in software made massively parallel computing increasingly practical. Cray adopted this direction through the Alpha-based T3D and T3E families. It also experimented with smaller systems, commodity processors, technical servers, and FPGA acceleration, although some of these businesses did not achieve the success of its large scientific installations. Seymour Cray formed Cray Computer Corporation in 1989 to pursue the Cray-3, which used gallium arsenide semiconductor technology. Only one Cray-3 was delivered, and the company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. Cray Research itself was acquired by Silicon Graphics in 1996. Seymour Cray died later that year following a traffic accident. SGI introduced the Cray SV1 but did not complete its broader plan to combine all high-end product families into a single architecture. In 2000, SGI sold Cray to Tera Computer Company. Tera adopted the Cray name, creating the modern Cray Inc. The company developed the X1, XD1, XT3, XT4, XT5, XMT, XE6, and related systems. The Red Storm installation at Sandia National Laboratories provided an important architectural foundation, particularly through its SeaStar interconnect. Commercialized versions of this approach helped Cray regain a strong position in massively parallel scientific computing. Cray’s Jaguar system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory became the first computer to exceed one petaflop of sustained performance on a 64-bit scientific application and temporarily ranked first in the TOP500 list. Subsequent systems increasingly combined CPUs, GPUs, high-speed networking, storage, and software designed for scientific simulation, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Cray in 2019. The Cray name remains part of HPE’s high-performance computing portfolio, with engineering and manufacturing activities connected to the company’s historical base in Wisconsin and corporate operations in Seattle. The brand continues to be used for large-scale supercomputing systems deployed by government laboratories, universities, and industrial research organizations.

• 2025

  Cray systems occupy the top three TOP500 positions

  [3]TOP500 Listtop500.org

  Systems carrying the Cray name hold the first three positions in the June 2025 TOP500 ranking.

• 2019

  HPE acquires Cray

  [2]Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire Crayhpe.com

  Hewlett Packard Enterprise completes the acquisition of Cray for approximately $1.3 billion.

• 2009

  Jaguar reaches petaflop scale

  [1]Crayen.wikipedia.org

  Cray’s Jaguar system at Oak Ridge becomes the first to exceed one petaflop of sustained performance on a 64-bit scientific application.

• 2004

  Red Storm is completed

  [1]Crayen.wikipedia.org

  Cray completes the Red Storm system for Sandia National Laboratories, introducing architecture that influences later XT systems.

• 2000

  Tera adopts the Cray name

  [1]Crayen.wikipedia.org

  Tera Computer Company purchases the Cray business and becomes Cray Inc.

• 1996

  Silicon Graphics acquires Cray Research

  [1]Crayen.wikipedia.org

  SGI acquires Cray Research for approximately $740 million.

• 1995

  Cray Computer Corporation files for bankruptcy

  [6]Cray Computer Corporation files for bankruptcyen.wikipedia.org

  The separate company pursuing the Cray-3 enters Chapter 11 after limited commercial adoption.

• 1990

  Supertek is acquired

  [1]Crayen.wikipedia.org

  Cray acquires Supertek and markets systems derived from its CMOS implementation of the X-MP architecture.

• 1985

  Cray-2 is introduced

  [5]Cray-2 is introduceden.wikipedia.org

  Cray Research delivers the Cray-2, an advanced liquid-cooled vector system designed by Seymour Cray.

• 1976

  Cray-1 enters service

  [4]Cray-1 enters serviceen.wikipedia.org

  The Cray-1 becomes the company’s breakthrough vector supercomputer and establishes the Cray name in scientific computing.

Showing the 10 most recent.

Premium, engineering-led high-performance computing for national laboratories, universities, government agencies, scientific research, industrial simulation, artificial intelligence, and other workloads requiring extreme scale and performance.

• Vector supercomputer · 1976

  Cray-1

  Introduced in the 1970s, the Cray-1 used vector processing and distinctive compact packaging to deliver exceptional scientific-computing performance. Its success made Cray Research the leading name in supercomputers and established the company’s premium positioning among national laboratories and research institutions.

• Multiprocessor vector supercomputer · 1983

  Cray X-MP

  The X-MP extended the Cray-1 architecture with multiple processors and became one of the company’s most commercially important early systems. It supported demanding simulation and engineering workloads and helped move Cray from a single breakthrough machine toward a scalable product family.

• Massively parallel supercomputer · 1996

  Cray T3E

  Based on Alpha processors, the T3E represented Cray’s strategic shift toward massively parallel processing. It combined large numbers of processing elements with a high-speed interconnect and helped preserve Cray’s relevance as parallel architectures gained ground against traditional vector-only systems.

• Massively parallel supercomputer · 2007

  Cray XT5

  The XT5 family used large-scale clusters of commodity-derived processors connected by Cray networking technology. Its best-known installation, Jaguar at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, demonstrated petascale performance and became a landmark in the development of modern scientific supercomputing.

• High-performance computing system · 2010

  Cray XE6

  Announced in 2010, the XE6 used the Gemini interconnect and a scalable parallel-system design. It supported large scientific workloads requiring global address-space capabilities, high bandwidth, and extensive system-level coordination.

• High-performance computing system · 2012

  Cray XC series

  The XC family developed Cray’s scalable cluster architecture for national laboratories and research organizations. It combined high-density compute nodes, proprietary networking, system software, and management tools for large simulation and data-intensive workloads.

• Exascale-class supercomputer platform · 2020

  Cray EX

  The Cray EX platform is a modern HPE-era supercomputing architecture intended for extreme-scale computing, including scientific simulation, artificial intelligence, and converged HPC workloads. It integrates compute, accelerator, networking, storage, and software components in large integrated installations.

• 2019

  Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquisitionM&A

  Background

  HPE pursued Cray to strengthen its position in high-performance computing and large-scale scientific and technical infrastructure.

  Action taken

  HPE acquired Cray for approximately $1.3 billion.

  Aftermath

  Cray became an HPE subsidiary and its technology was incorporated into HPE’s HPC and artificial-intelligence portfolio.

  Acquisition value. Approximately $1.3 billion (2019)

  Source

• 2000

  Tera adopts the Cray identityStrategy

  Background

  Tera Computer Company acquired the Cray business after SGI’s ownership period.

  Action taken

  Tera changed its corporate identity to Cray Inc. and used the Cray brand for subsequent products.

  Aftermath

  The renamed company continued developing vector, parallel, multithreaded, and hybrid supercomputing systems.

  Source

• 1996

  Silicon Graphics acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Cray Research was acquired as SGI sought to expand from graphics workstations into high-end servers and supercomputing.

  Action taken

  SGI purchased Cray Research for approximately $740 million and operated it as part of its advanced-computing business.

  Aftermath

  SGI introduced the Cray SV1 but later divested the business, leading to its acquisition by Tera Computer Company in 2000.

  Acquisition value. Approximately $740 million (1996)

  Source

• 2025

  Cray systems lead the TOP500 ranking[3]TOP500 Listtop500.org

  Other

  As of June 2025, Cray supercomputer systems held the first three positions in the TOP500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

• 2019

  Hewlett Packard Enterprise agrees to acquire Cray[2]Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire Crayhpe.com

  M&A

  HPE announced an agreement to acquire Cray in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion.

1. 1Crayen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire Crayhpe.com
3. 3TOP500 Listtop500.org
4. 4Cray-1 enters serviceen.wikipedia.org
5. 5Cray-2 is introduceden.wikipedia.org
6. 6Cray Computer Corporation files for bankruptcyen.wikipedia.org
7. 7Nvidia发布Azure云超级计算机、Magnum IO和Arm服务器架构参考平台server.zhiding.cn